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“It’s only been two weeks since she called off the search. Fifteen days! And he’s already managed to send a man after Matt and put a plan into place to kidnap Mindy. That’s why I knew I had to call you. He was obviously watching Matt. He knew the instant Irina called him. Hell, he knew before she got in touch with Matt. I’m thinking Novus knew she was calling off the search as soon as we did.”
“That’s not possible,” Rook snapped.
“It is if he’s got a mole on the inside. Look how he got to Mindy and used her to get to me. The SOB was watching her. He knew she was pregnant, something neither Irina nor I knew.”
“You can’t think that one of the BHSAR specialists is working for Novus.”
Irina stepped into the room.
“Would you listen?” Deke snapped. “My helicopter was sabotaged on the ranch. Right there in front of the hangar.”
“Sabotaged?”
“Rook! Deke!” Irina hissed. “There is someone outside. He’s armed.”
“What?” Both men jumped up. Deke grabbed a fireplace tool and shoveled ash over the flames. “Where?”
“At the edge of the woods outside the kitchen window.”
“Did he see you?” Rook asked.
She shook her head. “Not when I saw him. The lights were off. Maybe while I was making the tea.”
“I thought you said you weren’t followed,” Rook flung at Deke.
“I wasn’t. You?”
“Absolutely not. Are they Secret Service?”
“I’ve got a team on alert, but they won’t approach until I call them.” Deke cursed. “See? This is what I’ve been trying to tell you—”
“Who’d you tell about the cabin?”
“Just Dan Taylor. Today.”
“Then how in hell did they find us? LoJack?”
“No way. I swept the SUV before I picked up Irina.”
“But not after? If what you said about a traitor in BHSAR is true, someone could have tapped your car while you were inside.”
Deke cursed and crossed the room. He peered through the corner of the wooden blinds.
Rook shook his head. “No matter. Too late now. Are there still automatic weapons in the safe?” he asked as he walked over to the metal safe set into the far wall.
“Yeah, plenty. I can’t see anything out there.”
Rook dialed in the code and opened the heavy door. He reached in and pulled out two machine guns, along with several magazines of ammunition. “Wow,” he breathed. “You’ve upgraded.”
Deke walked back over to the fireplace. “HK 416s,” Deke said. “Secret Service gave me those after you disappeared. Part of their commitment to protecting Irina. You should find some super-hot night-vision goggles in there, too. And several flash grenades.”
“Nice.” Rook examined one of the 416s briefly and efficiently. His ease with handling the big weapon sent chills down Irina’s spine.
Deke pulled out his phone and dialed a number. He spoke a few words and hung up. “The Secret Service team will be here in less than twenty.”
“Hand me a com unit. And don’t we have some Tasers around here?”
Deke had already pulled a small wired box out of his pocket. “Pocket Tasers and handcuffs are stowed in the duffel bag I brought in.”
Irina watched them in awe. They hadn’t seen or talked to each other in two years, yet they worked completely in synch, anticipating each other’s needs. Their calm efficiency was reassuring and yet profoundly frightening at the same time.
As he grabbed the com unit and inserted the earpiece, Rook nodded at Irina. “You’re going to the basement.”
“Wait. I can take the Sig. I can help—”
“Now!” He pointed a finger at her. “And don’t open the door until you hear my signal. There’s a Glock down there, with plenty of extra ammo. Remember the safe word?”
She nodded stiffly, nearly paralyzed with fear. Years ago, when Rook had bought the cabin, he’d extended the basement to the barn and turned it into a safe room, reinforced with steel.
Since the barn was downhill from the cabin, a short tunnel was all that was necessary to join the two buildings. A door at the far end of the basement joined the back wall of the barn.
He’d gone over a long list of precautions with her. His insistence on such extensive safety measures had spooked her at the time, but they’d never had to use any of them.
For her, Rook’s very presence had always meant safety. But no more. The man standing in front of her with cold determination hardening his face was not the same man she’d married.
“Go!” he barked.
“Don’t—” she choked out through her constricted throat “—don’t get killed.”
ROOK DECIDED to follow Irina down the stairs from the pantry to the basement. He wasn’t going to take any chances. He’d see for himself that she was securely locked in the basement safe room.
He didn’t touch her—he didn’t have to, to know that she was shivering with fear and confusion. That and more radiated from her like a fever. He couldn’t blame her, but he couldn’t reassure her, either.
He wanted to tell her how sorry he was. Wanted to somehow explain. But even if he could form the words, they were meaningless. Mere words couldn’t make up for what she’d been through.
Hell, nothing could.
He opened the basement door and stepped back to let her pass. She went through the reinforced metal door and pushed it almost closed, then paused, peering at him through the narrow opening.
Long ago, he’d promised her that she would never be afraid again. He’d promised himself that she’d never have cause to regret marrying him. He’d broken both promises.
“Why?” she whispered, as if she knew his thoughts. “Why did you let me believe you were dead? All this time—”
He clenched his jaw. “Not now, Rina.”
She recoiled slightly, as if dodging a blow.
He’d hurt her again. More. It seemed that all he’d ever be able to do from now on was hurt her.
Reassuring words lodged in his throat. If he said them, they could turn into yet another lie. She needed time to heal, time to learn that she could trust him.
But right now time was a luxury they couldn’t afford, because Novus had found them. So he said nothing.
She lowered her gaze and closed the door.
Rook stood there until he heard the massive lock click into place, then he mounted the stairs.
He tapped the ultralight communications transmitter in his ear.
“Deke?” he muttered.
“Front room. And whisper, dammit. You’re busting my eardrums.” Deke’s words slid through his head as if they were his own thoughts.
“Irina’s secure,” he mouthed, barely making a sound. “I’m in the kitchen. Whatcha got?”
“I see two, slinking around behind the trees.”
Deke’s voice was clear and as smooth as silk. These were damn good units. A far cry from the staticky ones they’d used during their Air Force missions.
“I figure there are four of them,” Deke continued. “And two of us. That makes it even odds.”
Rook’s mouth twitched. “You’re giving those four guys a lot of credit.”
“Yeah, well, they may have explosives. How do you want to handle this?”
“The two you don’t see—where are they?”
“My guess—one at the front door and one at the back, waiting for us to come out. I’m betting Novus wants you alive, so they’ll try tear gas first. Then escalate to stun grenades if they have to.”
“What about these grenades we’ve got?”
“New toy, courtesy of Homeland Security. Works like a regular grenade. The flash blinds the enemy for thirty seconds or so. The goggles you’ve got hanging around your neck will protect you.”
“What if they have the goggles, too?”
“These babies are brand-new technology. Prototypes. Theory is you can stare at the sun for hours with them on. I doubt Novus has them yet. We don’t have them—officially. Whoa!”
“What?”
“They’re on the move.”
“Deke, go get Rina and get the hell out of here. Through the basement into the barn. The keys are in the rental car. I’ll hold them off.”
“The hell you will! Four against one’s not the same as four against two. You’ll be playing right into their hands. You get Irina, I’ll hold off these—” Deke spilled a few choice curse words. “I’ve gotten away from Novus twice before. I can do it again.”
“With that arm you may not be able to handle the 416. It’s heavy.”
“You don’t worry about me. I can handle anything you can.”
Rook heard something clatter against the kitchen window. “Something hit the window. Probably tear gas.”
“Rook—go! Take Irina and get to safety. They’re after you, not me.”
“No way. We’ll take them together and then I’ll get Rina. As long as she stays in the safe room, she’ll be fine.”
“Unless one of our visitors decides to check out the barn.”
“The steel door from the barn into the safe room is rated for twenty minutes against dynamite.”
“Good to know. So how do we want to take these guys? Stay together or split up?”
“You take the front. I’ll take the back and then we’ll catch the middle two in a crossfire. No casualties unless absolutely necessary. I want them in custody, spilling their guts.”
He heard a hissing noise outside the window. “There goes the tear gas. They wasted that one.”
“I’m at the door. You?”
Rook flattened his back against the kitchen door, mentally measuring the distance out to the yard. The door opened onto a small stoop and then down five steps. “Yeah. See anything?”
“Nah. I say we go on three. If you spot one, try the flash grenade, but be ready with firepower. I’ll be shooting down from the porch.” The edge in Deke’s voice cut like a razor blade through Rook’s head. He knew the tone. Deke was prepared to die to protect him. Rook felt the same way.
But it wasn’t going to happen. Not today—not ever. Deke had every reason to stay alive. He had Mindy and their newborn baby boy.
And Rook had—He gripped his machine pistol in both hands and shoved those thoughts away. “On my mark,” he growled.
“One.” He tensed his thighs and pushed to a standing position, then pulled the night-vision goggles over his eyes. It took him a second to adjust to the Matrix-like look of the world through the infrared lenses.
“Two.” He turned the key in the back door and reached for the knob, ready to angle around. Ready for anything. A heady rush of adrenaline buzzed through him, making him super-aware. He heard the whisper-light hum of a mosquito, noticed the faint cold breeze on his neck.
He took a long, slow breath.
“Three!” He slung the door open and slid around it, his finger on the trigger of the HK 416. The 416 was a heavy piece of equipment and carried plenty of ammo, but right now its weight was comforting.
A second wave of adrenaline jacked up his heart rate and sharpened his already-honed senses.
Deke’s labored breathing sounded like a windstorm above the sawing of his own breaths. His nose picked up the fresh, earthy smell of rain from the brief thunderstorm. His trigger finger tightened.
In one long stride, he crossed the stoop and put his back against a wooden pillar.
Poised to shoot, he swung out and swept the backyard with his gaze and his gun. It was empty—no shadowy figures, no sound other than rain dripping off eaves and tree branches.
Where were they? If they were his men, they’d be covering the main entrances to the cabin.
He didn’t like that he couldn’t see them. Had they circled around to the barn? Or was Deke wrong? Were there just two of them?
He shook his head. Deke was rarely wrong.
“Whatcha got?” he whispered into the com mic.
